


St. Chris Boulevard

by TheRedHero11037



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mental Illness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, a bit of general unpleasantness, also more than one xehanort will be appearing, i mean ven's comatose. so, suicide mention in chapter 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 17:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4272183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedHero11037/pseuds/TheRedHero11037
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aqua had never felt so alone. Ventus and Terra have been snatched from her because of an accident she has next to no details about. She has no idea how Ven was put into a coma, she has no idea why Terra was almost imprisoned because of it, and most of all, she has no idea why Terra decided to check himself into St. Christopher Residential Treatment Facility. St. Chris was almost infamous for being incredibly strange, but it was help, he said. Help for what, though?<br/>Now that neither of them will talk to her, Aqua has to put together the puzzle pieces of the lives both of the boys were hiding from her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like Caviar

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently somebody asked Rose (Cute_Rosey_Keyblades) for some sad Aqua. I got an idea. So this is dedicated to my sweet poflo.

Aqua read, usually, when she was alone with him. She read out loud, because he always liked to listen. She hoped to god it wouldn’t be the last thing he did. It certainly looked like it could be, because Ventus could barely breathe on his own. _Barely_ , she always recalled when she needed hope, _barely is better than nothing_. Nothing was also something she saw him do a lot of these days.

Aqua did not have a very clear idea at all of what had gone so wrong. The morning, Terra and Ven were just normal brothers. The fact that they weren’t biologically related was perhaps the weirdest thing about them. They were horribly normal. Terra was a college sophomore with an undecided major. Ventus was a high school sophomore with a wide range of talents. It was a shame that their potential was taken from them, or at least that’s what the newspapers said. That evening broke the family. An accident, though Aqua still didn’t know what, Terra would never say. Ventus was left comatose from blunt force trauma to the chest, and Terra’s trauma came mentally.

Aqua wrote today, because she was lonely and thought maybe something this personal would coax Terra out. Maybe Terra was just waiting for a sign like this. He’d barely said a word, except in court, to implicate someone else. It was more of a wail really, as his attorney was making up all manner of mental bullshit to get the easy way out. Terra was white (probably) and had no prior history, so he’d gotten off lightly. Then he checked into St. Chris on his own and hadn’t left since.

Right now, St. Chris was thirteen miles away from Aqua, surrounded by nature for residents to enjoy. Aqua just felt surrounded by white and tainted air. She sat next to Ven’s bed, tapping her pen against the paper. She found it annoying. Maybe Ven would too. Maybe Ven would find it annoying enough to get out and stop her. Wishful thinking. “Well,” Aqua declared to someone who probably wasn’t there, would never be there again, “Terra isn’t allowed to have computers or cell phones or anything like that at St. Chris, so we have to do this the old fashioned way.” She stroked Ven’s blond hair. It was saddeningly neat and tidy, freshly washed and combed through. Aqua almost couldn’t recognize Ven without his cowlick, it was just a trademark of his happy style. Coma patients weren’t allowed to be happy.

“How should we start it? Classy or casual?” Aqua asked. Ventus said nothing. Aqua nodded knowingly. “Yeah, anything too fancy would probably just get him worked up. _Hey, Terra, it’s been awhile hasn’t it?_ Do you like that?” Aqua nodded and continued. “Next, we have to bring up the problem we’re writing about. _Ven and I have been worried sick about you because you’ve been really distant lately._ Good? Good.” She tousled Ven’s hair a bit, trying to make him look just a bit more himself. “What else do you think we should say?” she hummed. “How about this: _No matter where you are, you’re still our friend, and we’ll always love you_.” Aqua read it over again and scowled. She could only speak for herself on this one. She still thought Terra was deserving of her friendship, but would Ven? Terra was the reason Ven was here, three months of unconsciousness. It was steadily improving unconsciousness, but unconsciousness nonetheless. She kept her statement. Terra would tell them what had really happened. She continued writing, making sure to consult Ventus for each sentence or two. Her eyes flicked over the page once she finished, checking for any really outstanding errors within her clean cursive. “Here Ven, let me read this back to you. You can tell me what you think. Ready?” Ready as Ven would ever be, she supposed.

_“Hey, Terra, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?_

_Ven and I have been worried sick about you because you’ve been really distant lately. No matter where you are, you’re still our friend, and we’ll always love you. I think you’re incredibly brave for going to St. Chris. You knew you needed help, so you went and got it. I’m proud of you. I only wish you’d talk to me. How is your treatment going? I haven’t heard much at all. I hope isolation isn’t part of the regimen. Ven and I miss you. If you can deal with me there, I might come and visit you. I’ve been visiting Ven a lot because I know he’ll get lonely if I don’t. He’s doing very well and improving every day. I guess I have, too. I’ve been so sad, but I’m starting to feel better, bit by bit, isn’t that great? I hope you’re improving. Master Eraqus is still a little disappointed, but I’m not. Whatever happened wasn’t your fault, I know it. I can feel it. You could never hurt Ven, let alone leave him like this. I know you blame yourself, but I doubt there was anything you did wrong. I know you, Terra, you’re a good guy. I can’t wait to see you again._

_Forever and always,_

_Ventus and Aqua”_

She finished reading with a smile. “It’s perfect, I think. I love it.”

Aqua spent the rest of the afternoon by Ven’s side. She felt satisfied. Though Terra wasn’t there physically nor Ven mentally, she knew that they were together in their hearts. She’d keep them all together. She dropped the envelope at the post office and went home to dinner with the Master. After that, Aqua was constantly by the mailbox, waiting. She spent three days on the porch, minus time spent with Ven or sleeping, and then it came. It was a plain-looking envelope. Nothing catchy or flashy or familiar at all. Her name and the return address were written in flowing, curling script on the front that was as close to Terra’s handwriting as caviar was to military rations. Was it one of the nurses’ handwriting? She opened it, only to be disappointed by the same high-class script on the letter inside. This is what it said:

_Dear Ventus and Aqua, Unfortunately, Terra is unable to write to you. I will give him this letter as soon as he is able to receive it. My apologies. I wish to two of you well._

Aqua thought the note was very professional. It was succinct and kind for someone who had never met them. Aqua may have to go meet the author, but setting her eyes on the conclusion made her blood run cold.

_Sincerely, Xehanort_

Aqua had heard the name before. Only once had she ever heard such a strange, menacing name. She could see it in her head now, as the prosecutor was interrogating Terra, attacking every bit of him on the witness stand. “If it wasn’t you, then who?” The accuser taunted. It was his job, did he have to be so venomous? Terra replied in a wailed shout, one word. One name. The very same name Aqua had just read. Xehanort.


	2. Preamble

St. Chris was a short drive away from her morning visit with Ventus. Thirteen miles. Twelve and closing in. The tiny cityscape began fading away into soft forest and field. The fewer houses there were, the more Aqua worried. What if they didn’t let her in? What if Terra suddenly hated her? What if Xehanort was luring her down there for a trap? She didn’t mean to worry. It just came naturally.

She hadn’t spent too much time preparing this morning, at least not in terms of preening. She thought Terra would be more comfortable that way, her less prettied up. More natural, more like here everyday look. Something soft, a sweatshirt over one of the tee-shirts from one of the trips Master Eraqus had taken them on, and jeans to go with it. She didn’t wear make up. She didn’t feel like worrying about that today. Terra had seen her without it. 

The drive through the scattered trees was otherwise uneventful. She’d soon arrived at St. Christopher Boulevard, the long street that pretty much served as the driveway to St. Christopher Residential Treatment Facility. If she wanted to turn back, she’d better do it now.

Aqua did not turn back. She continued on unfazed and undaunted. She needed to see Terra, and the well-kept campus was the perfect place to do it. 

St. Chris itself was not a very big place. The land it was on was just big to give patients some space. It was beautiful at this time of year. The grass was still bright but the autumn leaves were like fire. Aqua could see the appeal of the place, at least visually. That appeal was completely wrecked by the foreboding atmosphere of the place. She tried to ignore it.

The man at the desk was very nice and very clear, not dancing around what Aqua couldn’t take into the patient areas and calmly offering to hold on to Aqua’s forbidden items. He did the standard-issue warnings and then, softly, asked who Aqua was here to visit and her relation.

 

“Terra,” and before Aqua could finish, she saw him pale a bit. “What?”

 

“Terra can’t talk to you today.”

 

“He hasn’t talked to me since he told me he was here,” Aqua explained. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Well,” sighed the man, “that depends on the definition of okay. He’s been sedated at least three times this week.”

 

“What?! Why?!”

His mouth pressed into a firm line. “I think we should head into my office to discuss this.”

Dr. Ansem Darinzer’s office was a very nice place. Everything was in its place. The gentle wood of the desk was polished to gleam, and the sign on top of it informed Aqua that she was talking to the Head Psychiatrist of St. Chris. Dr. Darinzer (or Dr. Diz, as he’d introduced himself) took down a file and sat and invited her to sit as well. He took a deep breath. “We haven’t seen Terra either, not since his initial interviews and sessions.”

Aqua was puzzled. “He lives here, though. It’s not quite like you could just lose him, right?”

Dr. Diz shook his head. “Unfortunately, his other two alter egos have been taking over for him.”

“Is this why he checked in? I’ve never heard of his ‘alter egos’ at all.”

“Then he’s probably been managing them very well. Apparently his Dissociative Identity Disorder was not a big problem, all things considered, until after the accident. Alternatively, that was the trauma that caused the creation of the… Are you alright, miss?”

Aqua blinked. “I-I had no idea. Terra’s lived with me and the Master for years, nothing like multiple personalities ever came up.”

 

Diz hastily scribbled this new information down. “I see. Thank you for the information.”  
“It’s no problem, but I really would like to see Terra or whoever he is.” Aqua was a bit impatient, and Diz’s slick, businesslike explanation was a bit disquieting. She wanted out.

 

Diz didn’t oblige. “This morning I spoke with Will. As long as you’re careful…” Someone knocked on the door and poked a blond cowlick through a crack. “Can I help you?”

The door opened all the way to reveal a man in blue with intense eyes and a neck brace. Aqua tried not to focus in on it, instead looking at his eyes. They were a small lake in the pale of his face. “Where’s Aerith? Nobody’s at the front desk.” He spoke in a brusque tenor, blinking slowly.

“Ah, sorry, Mr. Strife.”

“Corporal Strife,” the man corrected, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

“Cpl. Strife,” Diz amended. “Aerith said she was going to try and moderate a group therapy session out on the lawn.”

 

“Thanks. You trust me enough to have nothing dangerous in Zack’s care package from the gang? I made sure Yuffie knew what happened with the ribbon she sent him.”

“Perfect. Would you mind taking Ms. Aqua out with you?” Diz motioned to her. Cpl. Strife shrugged and motioned for her to come with him.

Aqua was glad to be out of that god-forsaken room. Diz was giving her the creeps. Cpl. Strife led her back around the front desk to a milk crate sitting next to the sign-in. The silence was stiff until he spoke. “You don’t have to be afraid of me. I only make Diz call me corporal because he makes me take off my scarf. I’m Cloud.”

“Aqua,” she replied, relaxing. “That care package looks pretty nice. I should have brought one.”

 

Cloud shook his head as he picked up the package and began to walk. “You have to establish a level of comfort. That’s what Zack said, anyway. I didn’t really care. Tifa made this monster happen. From the looks of it, you haven’t been here much, so don’t worry about having anything. Who are you here for?”

 

“Terra. Apparently I can’t see him, though.”

 

“No?” Cloud pawed at his neck brace. “Sucks. I’ll introduce you to Aerith and Zack, then. They’re probably the nicest people here. I mean, Aerith kind of has to be. She’s not a patient. She keeps things together and-- Are you staring at me?”

“Yes,” Aqua admitted.

 

“It’s the neck brace, isn’t it.”

 

“Yeah,” she confirmed.

Cloud shrugged. “If I don’t wear it, my head flops around, and I can’t drive if that’s happening. Usually I cover it with a scarf.” Aqua nodded. “Now, my pry time for you. If you can’t see Terra, why does Diz want me to take you to the yard?”

“I’m going to go see Will.”

 

Cloud gave her a weird look. “You know Will?”

 

Aqua shook her head. “I’ll be meeting him for the first time today.”  
“You’d better be careful. He was well on his way to breaking me in half before they got him sedated. Can you get this door for me?”

Aqua nodded and obliged. “I’ll be fine, I think.”

They stepped into the verdant yard. The flowerbeds were overflowing, and there was a small group in a circle near some well-tended yellow lilies. Aqua looked over the people. Brunette girl, two black-haired guys who looked nothing alike, blond girl… There. Just as Cloud set down the care package, Aqua saw Terra’s tanned skin and brown hair. It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always open for suggestions, by the way. Any critique is good critique, especially for something like this.


	3. Will He

Group therapy came apart the moment they saw Cloud and Aqua standing there. At least, it started to come apart then. It really came apart when Cloud set down his care package and hollered “ELOISE!” causing the larger of the two black-haired men to jump to his feet. He landed in parade rest, waited a moment, and then realized he had not actually been ordered to do anything. He turned around and spotted Cloud, and his face broke into a smile a split second faster than his legs broke into a sprint. He bowled into Cloud and curled him into a strong bear-hug. “Nice to see you too,” Cloud grunted, obviously crushed with his strength.

The man only noticed Aqua after a good long hug with his buddy, but when he did, it seemed like there were hearts in his eyes. “Oh, hel-lo,” he half-panted. “And to what do I owe the honor of meeting you, beautiful?”

Aqua laughed in surprise. “I’m just visiting,” she stammered, smoothing her hair.

“Sergeant First Class Zack Fair, at your service,” he introduced, sticking out his hand to shake.

“Aqua del Valle. Nice to meet you,” she smiled gently. “I’m looking for someone.”

“I can show you,” he said eagerly. “Anyone you want.”

“We’re all going to the same place,” Cloud grumbled. “She’s here to see Will.”

Zack bit his lip. “Why?” No doubt he was creating stories of Terra being her boyfriend in his mind.

Cloud cuffed him. “Doesn’t matter. We should probably get back over to Aerith. Vanitas looks bored enough to start something.”

Zack did a mocking salute and dashed back to the circle. Aqua trailed behind with Cloud after he picked up his milk crate again. Coming back to the circle was serene. Aqua examined the faces again. Aside from Zack, Cloud, and Terra, there were three others. One was a brunette girl with a name card that identified her as Aerith. The others were a blond girl and an angry looking boy with black hair.

Aqua sat down next to Terra, who looked back at her suspiciously. She gave him a nervous, gentle smile in return. He looked her over once, twice, a third time across the face, but she could see no recognition in his hazel eyes. Discouraging, but no matter. She could try again later, as the brunette lady was starting to speak again.

“Seems we have a few visitors with us. We all know Cloud, right?”

“Duh, you’re fucking him, aren’t you?” cackled the black haired boy. Terra’s eyes narrowed.

Aerith frowned as well. “Vanitas, I’d prefer if we don’t discuss who I have and have not met in bed.” The group laughed, except Terra, who was silent still. Aerith turned to Aqua. “I saw you come out here with Cloud. Are you a friend of his?”

 

Aqua shook her head. “I only met him on the walk down here. I actually came down here looking for someone.” She looked directly at Terra.

Aerith nodded. “Will hasn’t said anything about his friends or family.”

“I don’t have friends or family,” Will growled through Terra’s mouth. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“I-I meant Terra,” Aqua stammered, twisting a strand of her blue hair.

He looked absolutely puzzled. “I am not Terra. My name is Will.” His voice was low and threatening. It seemed this was his normal speaking voice.

“Terra is one of your other selves,” Aerith clarified.

“There is only one of me. I am Will. No one else.”

“How interesting,” Aerith continued. “Do other people call you by other names a lot?”

“Not anymore. They learned.”

Vanitas gave another icy hoot of laughter. “Yeah, because you go berserk when anyone calls you Xehanort.” Will’s face clenched into anger and he stood up slowly. Zack (who’d been standing to do squats for whatever reason) looped around behind him. Vanitas’s pale face gleamed with glee at the rage he’d provoked. “You don’t even like when anyone says Xehanort, do you?” The clack of Will’s jaw was audible as it clenched and ground. “Why, any of us here could be in league with Xehanort,” Vanitas prodded. “Me or Aerith or Naminé… or perhaps that little blue bitch. Why don’t you have her tell you?” Will’s angry gaze pierced through Aqua and she shivered. Vanitas crept to Terra’s feet and prodded his flank harshly. “I saw her,” Vanitas lied. “She was talking to him. She’s trying to trick you. He wants you to lower your guard so Xehanort can get in and strike.”

“I’ve heard enough.” Will pressed a hand over Vanitas’s face and pushed him backwards, eyes strong on Aqua. “And what are you going to say to defend yourself?” Aqua said nothing. She was incredibly confused. The atmosphere was tense, potential energy pooling around them. 

Will was the one to move first, lunging for Aqua’s neck so quickly that even all those years of experience just barely prevented him from grabbing her. Then, Zack took Will by surprise and pulled him into a headlock, but Will shoved an elbow into Zack’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Aqua took advantage of that time to run for the building, but Will caught her, at least until Zack struck back with a flurry of small blows. He took Aqua’s hand and almost dragged her to the side of the building before rushing back to leg drop Will. The fight between them was fast yet brutal. Will drove Zack closer and closer to the building-- no, Zack was leading him. Driving, leading, driving, leading… It all culminated in Will picking Zack up and throwing him against the brick of the building before getting sedated and taken inside.

Aerith and Cloud were by Zack’s side. Aqua decided to join them to thank Zack for his help. The sergeant was curled in on himself, one wrist extended. Cloud was… yelling at him? Definitely yelling. There was some quiet lecturing from Aerith as well, but most of it was Cloud. “I can’t believe you! What were you even trying to do? You could have gotten your shit wrecked!”

“That’s exactly what I wanted,” Zack mumbled. 

Aerith frowned and took a roll of red bandages out from her pocket. “Zack, I really thought you were getting past this.” Her voice was soft but heavy with disappointment, like a wet sponge. She replaced the tape with a marker and wrote something on the bandages. “I really didn’t want to put you back on suicide watch, Zack,” she almost sniffled. Aqua was stunned. Suicide watch? Him? Cloud leaned over to Aerith and whispered something, and she turned to see Aqua. “O-oh. Cloud, why don’t you take Zack to see Diz?” she ordered, trying to put on a happy facade for Aqua. “I’m sorry about that. How about I make it up for you by taking you to see Terra, maybe?”

“That would be nice,” Aqua said absently. Her mind whirred with everything that had just happened, but she would have the chance to think everything over on the way to wherever Terra was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently what Cloud did to Zack in the beginning is a real thing soldiers do. http://washingtondlc.tumblr.com/post/107721646293/badluckkitty-fun-fact-soldiers-will-call


End file.
